The Nazren species was introduced in SWDD05: The First to Strike, Episode V of the Dawn of Defiance campaign produced by Wizards of the Coast.

The Nazren are a tall species, similar in height to Wookiees. Their homeworld of Nizon is a harsh dustbowl of a planet, with driving winds and fierce sandstorms that can scour the skin from an unprotected creature’s bones. Until relatively recently, Nizon had little to offer the galaxy. That changed when it was discovered that Nizon possessed a few rich veins of minerals and ore. When the Empire arrived on the planet, however, the most useful resource proved to be the Nazren people themselves. They were quickly rounded up for slave labor and sent to the nearby planet of Centares to work in the mines.

Xenobiologists from the University of Sanbra have conducted studies of the species and their planet at two points in their history. The first occurred about a hundred years prior to the establishment of the Empire, when a team of scientists from the University was sent along with some early mining expeditions. They began to investigate and catalog the Nazren and found them to be a shy, reclusive species that shunned warfare and were content to live alongside other species that made Nizon their home. The species is truly ancient and has changed little over the course of perhaps a million years or so. Once the Empire was successfully routed from the planet with the help of insurgents working for the Alderaanian resistance, another team of xenobiologists was sent back to Nizon to assess the damage done to the population.